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Chapter 177 CLXXVI. Reconciliation
Upon hearing that Payne had once again changed the rules, even Alpha, a staunch supporter of the leader, couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
Is he in a playful mood? Hasn't he had enough?
Or did he particularly want Lacey to win, to the point of taking sides?
Even...did he watch dog fighting?
Alpha had heard of a form of entertainment among humans where specially trained dogs fight and bite each other, often involving gambling, known as "dogfighting."
Once the orcs were created, the activity of "dog fighting" unsurprisingly gave rise to "canine orcs".
Lacey, whose breed is not clearly defined, should not have faced that fate, but Alpha, being a fierce dog, was threatened that if no hunters ultimately took a liking to her, she might be sold to a dogfighting ring.
Fortunately, although she didn't get noticed by the hunters, she was eventually bought by the army.
Although the army wasn't a good place either, with training officers tormenting her, F Company initially discriminating against orcs, and danger lurking everywhere on the battlefield, at least her first trainer, Lewis, treated her well, and her later trainer, Payne, was particularly fond of orcs.
She cherished her encounter with Payne and, over the past few months, came to understand Payne's character.
Therefore, she was quite certain that even if Payne had seen dogfighting or canine beastmen, it was at most for research purposes.
Given his fondness for orcs and animals, it's impossible that he would enjoy dogfighting, an activity purely for the sake of cruelty.
Just as he disliked the war.
However, Alpha was somewhat disappointed by his blatant favoritism towards Lacey.
Even if I demonstrated strength superior to Lacey's, does that mean I still hold a lower place in his heart than Lacey...?
As a canine beastman with many aggressive canine genes, she highly values the principle of meritocracy.
Therefore, even though it was a battlefield where strength was the deciding factor, Payne still favored Lacey based on his own feelings, and Alpha felt that his disappointment was not unreasonable.
However, upon further reflection, she realized that Pine's actions weren't necessarily wrong.
If it were her, she wouldn't want to have gone through thick and thin with Payne for years, only to be defeated by a young dog, and then have Payne neglect her from then on.
If that's the case, then what was the point of all those years of dedication?
However, although she could understand this reasoning, it was impossible for her not to feel any anger towards Payne's favoritism.
Therefore, she had no intention of holding back when faced with Lacey's fourth challenge, which she was eager to take on.
She's reached match point, and it's unlikely that Pine would pull off another sloppy move like extending the match to a best-of-seven series.
Lacey, who won the previous match, was in high spirits and launched a deadly attack right from the start, trying to replicate her previous success.
Even though Alpha, who was prepared, dodged her attack, she was not discouraged at all. As if she was not afraid of hurting Alpha and being penalized for a foul, she used her teeth wildly.
Seeing this, Alpha did not dare to be negligent and also used its teeth as an offensive weapon.
Besides the two dogs, the most nervous person was Pine.
You are all my precious babies, so please don't get carried away and hurt each other!
However, after observing nervously for a while, he breathed a sigh of relief. These two well-behaved dogs were careful with their bites and weren't trying to draw blood.
They showed a high degree of teamwork in the battle; whenever they were caught off guard, they would take the initiative to retreat and show weakness, so the other side would not continue to pursue them.
It wasn't just Lacey who would show weakness; when Alpha pinned Lacey down and Lacey retaliated by lightly biting his stomach twice, she would also move away on her own.
It seems they are well aware that this battle is just a drill-like contest, and both sides need to abide by certain rules in order to avoid real injury.
Moreover, their relationship is that of comrades-in-arms, not enemies.
The battle lasted a long time, with both sides almost exhausting their last bit of strength before a winner was finally decided.
Unsurprisingly, Lacey lost again.
Moreover, Alpha was extremely resolute this time. She straddled Lacey, who was lying on the ground, grabbed her neck with both hands, and shouted with a ferocious expression, "Will you admit defeat or not?!"
Lacey kept her mouth tightly shut, her hands gripping her wrists as she tried to break free.
So Alpha leaned down and gently tugged at her ear, shouting again, "Still not admitting defeat?!"
Lacey remained silent.
Alpha showed no intention of holding back, biting and tugging at her other ear, then gently nibbling at her cheek before saying impatiently:
"Admit defeat now. I've already bitten your ears, eyes, nose, and mouth to pieces. I don't believe you have any chance of turning the tables in this kind of excruciating pain."
Although Alpha described the battle as extremely fierce, Payne saw it as a scene of blooming lilies...
However, the big black dog was right, so Payne decided to stop the match: "Alright, alright, you two can stop now."
"The winner of the fourth game: Alpha."
"In the end, Alpha defeated Lacey 3-1, winning the match!"
Although the man and the four beasts thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle, not a single one (or beast) felt that applause was warranted. Only Lacey jumped up and began to complain to Payne:
"Logically speaking, I bit her several times, so her pain should have affected her performance!"
Payne curled his lip. "I'm counting. You only bit her three times, but she bit you a full eighteen times. The only reason you've lasted this long is because this isn't a real fight..."
"But I bit the dog's weak spots! Its belly, nose, and tail..."
Payne covered his face. "Don't embarrass me... If Alpha wanted to, she wouldn't have needed to bite you; she could have just choked you unconscious..."
However, although Payne said that, he didn't complain, because he could sense that Lacey was actually quite happy.
Was it because of my bias towards her, and because I had at least won a battle?
Regardless, Payne felt he hadn't lost.
This fight must have taken a lot of toll on them, so I'll be able to relax a bit later.
Thinking this, Payne grabbed one of the beast's hands and said, "Alright, let's apologize to each other and let's call it a day."
“I’ll go first. I shouldn’t have kept what happened between me and Alpha from Lessie;”
"Lassie, you shouldn't have provoked Alpha in such a despicable way, and then embarrassed me as well;
"Alpha, strictly speaking, you didn't make a huge mistake, but you can't refuse to communicate with Lacey just because I acquiesced. Besides, I didn't expect you to reach the divergence so quickly..."
"Alright, alright, let's make up."
As he said this, Payne crossed his two paws together.
Chapter 178 CLXXVII. Continue processing
After calming down and with Payne leading the apology, both dogs realized their mistakes and sheepishly drooped their ears as they apologized to each other.
Seeing this, Payne immediately tried to lighten the mood: "Alright, alright, no need to be so serious. It's not a big deal, let's just let it pass."
"Alpha, you are indeed better than Lacey, I admit that, but Lacey is more experienced in combat skills."
"You two should get along well in the future, and you should learn more from her."
"Also, since Lacey is a senior, if there are any overlaps in the future, she will take priority. Do you understand?"
"Understood." Alpha nodded immediately.
"Hehe, it's good that you understand~" Lacey laughed too, seemingly turning back into that optimistic, silly dog.
Then, she even licked Alpha's nose for him—the spot where she had just bitten it.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
"Ah... um, it doesn't hurt." Lacey's sudden gentleness left Alpha somewhat bewildered.
"Hehe, it's good that it doesn't hurt~~"
Seemingly feeling that it wouldn't be right to do nothing, Alpha hesitated for a moment, then began to lick Lacey's nose as well.
For a moment, Payne felt a little superfluous.
Before they met him, did these beast girls help each other solve problems like this? ...
But that wasn't the end of it. When Ella saw the two dogs licking each other's wounds (?), perhaps moved by this touching scene of sisterly affection (?), she couldn't help but run over and lick the teeth marks on Lacey's neck...
The situation had become so chaotic that even Payne could hardly understand it.
Since the three dogs showed no signs of stopping after a long time, he glanced at his watch and decided to chase them away.
"Alright, alright, all you non-essential members, get out of here! The fighting has already taken up so much time; if it stays any later, you won't have enough time to sleep!..."
……
As the oil lamp, nearing its end, grew dim, Payne, having finished his first battle, leaned back against the wall, letting a furry body embrace him as he rested.
After a good fight with Alpha and venting her energy, Lacey became much easier to deal with.
Payne's mind went blank, and his hands unconsciously rubbed against Lacey's shoulders, where he could clearly feel several teeth marks.
He didn't do it; Alpha bit him during the fight earlier.
I remember counting before, Alpha bit 18 times, where did the others bite? ...
Just as Payne was wondering whether he should look for it, he felt as if a drop of liquid had fallen on his back.
He gently pushed away Lacey, who had rested her head on his shoulder, and touched her face; it was wet.
"Why are you crying?"
The dog looked extremely dejected, its head and ears drooping, and its tail lying limply on the bed, motionless.
Only when Payne cupped her face and made her look at him did she sniffle and say in a slightly hoarse voice, "Master, do you...do you think I'm useless?"
Payne was stunned. "Why would you think that?"
"Because...because I embarrassed you..."
"How did you embarrass yourself?"
“I…I lost to Alpha…I lost to the younger generation…”
Payne was certain that this was simply Lacey experiencing some depression due to abnormal hormone levels during her estrus cycle.
She must know very well that her physical abilities are not as good as Alpha's, and besides, Payne wouldn't neglect her because of that.
If that's the case, what's there to be depressed about?
Payne chuckled, pulled her back into his arms, patted her head and back, and said in a relaxed tone, "What are you thinking, you silly dog? How could I think you're useless? You helped me so many times in the previous battles, have you forgotten?"